248 ANIMAL LIFE IN THE YO SEMITE 



PiED-BiLLED Grebe. Podilymbus podiceps (Linnaeus) 



Field characters. — Size and coloration about that of American Eared Grebe (which 

 see), but neck thicker; bill stouter and usually with black bar across middle. Throat (in 

 summer) with black patch; neck, chest, and sides dull brown. Seen singly on ponds 

 and sluggish streams; sits low in water and when frightened sinks beneath surface with 

 no splash and little rippling of water. 



Occurrence. — In winter, visits lower course of Merced River, below Yosemite Valley, 

 and sloughs in vicinity of Snelling. 



Solitary individuals of the Pied-billed Grebe have been sighted on 

 different occasions in December and January on slow-flowing portions of 

 the Merced River. On the water of a deeply dredged section of the rock- 

 walled channel near Goff, December 12, 1914, a good view of one was 

 obtained from the passing train. Another was seen the last of November, 

 1915, on the river near Cascade Falls. We may surmise that small trout 

 were the attraction at these places. The only part of the Yosemite region 

 offering the surroundings ordinarily preferred by this grebe is the Merced 

 River bottom below Merced Falls. There the secluded tule-bordered 

 sloughs are likely to afford summer homes and appropriate nesting sites ; 

 birds were actually seen there by us only in winter. 



California Gull. Larus californicus Lawrence 



Field characters. — A gull of medium size; total length 20 inches or more. Plumage 

 of adults (pi. 41a) white on whole head, neck, lower surface and tail; back neutral 

 gray; wings black-ended, with white spots near tips; bill yellow, with dark band near 

 tip and an orange spot near end of lower mandible. Plumage of immatures mixed dark 

 and light brown. Wings long and pointed, tail short and square-ended; flies gracefully, 

 frequently sailing or circling on set wings; when on water sits high, with tips of wings 

 crossed behind back. 



Occurrence. — Common in summer on Mono Lake, nesting on Paoha Island; occasion- 

 ally straggles over Sierran crest to lakes on west slope; noted at Tuolumne Meadows 

 (8600 feet), July 5, 1915, at Young Lake, altitude 10,000 feet, July 8, 1915, and at 

 Tenaya Lake, altitude 8141 feet, July 29 and September 26, 1915. 



Most people associate gulls with the seashore. This disposition in gen- 

 eral is correct in so far as the winter season is concerned, but during the 

 summer months several of the species leave their maritime haunts altogether 

 and seek bodies of water far inland. Such is the case with the California 

 Gull. 



In 1915 we saw California Gulls only four times, as detailed above; 

 but in the late spring and early summer of 1916, when Mr. Dixon visited 

 Mono Lake, he found them there in numbers. On May 6 three birds were 

 seen at the mouth of Leevining Creek ; by the latter part of the same month 

 the species had become common there. 



